The following text should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art. Furthermore, citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention, or that any reference forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art.
Paper and other cellulosics are widely used commercially. However, these materials suffer from being flammable and can also be susceptible to attack by decay fungi. Application of borates including disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (Na2B8O13.4H2O), ammonium pentaborate [NH4B5O6(OH)4.4H2O] and ammonium tetraborate [(NH4)2B4O5.4H2O] have long been recommended for use as fire retardant treatments for paper and other cellulosics and have also been used to combat fungi. Despite the general efficacy of borates to reduce flammability of cellulosics, recently developed fire tests are more demanding and often cannot be passed with the application of borates alone. One particular problem with borates is their limited solubility in liquids, which limits the amount of borate that can be applied to a cellulosic material to impart fire retardancy. Typically, the amount of borate applied in a liquid treatment is insufficient to achieve fire retardancy in more aggressive fire tests.
Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate a patent, publication or invention by another by virtue of prior invention.